Jerry Grillo’s dream of
becoming a jazz singer was long deferred. He
played in high school and college musicals,
did a few shows after moving to Milwaukee in
the late ’60s and sang in pop cover bands
through the ’70s. None of it was exactly
what he wanted to do. After a while, Grillo
abandoned music and focused on teaching at
John Marshall High School. However, in the
last years before retiring from MPS, Grillo
finally reinvented himself in his spare time
as a serious jazz vocalist.

Next week Grillo marks
the 25th anniversary of his debut album, This
Funny World, with a performance and a
remastered reissue of the recording.

Grillo cites vocalist
Jackie Allen for inspiring him to realize
the dream after hearing her sing at the
Wyndham Hotel. “I was blown away by her
nobody was doing what she was doing here,”
he says. “I knew I had to go to her.” And he
did, signing up for her voice lessons at the
Wisconsin Conservatory of Music. She became
his mentor and encouraged him to record This
Funny World. “She hooked me up with
the musicians and the recording studio. She
gave me one of her songs.”

Allen’s “I Chase the
Sun” is the lone number on This Funny
World not drawn from the Great
American Songbook. Singing in low-key almost
conversational tones, Grillo focused on
interpreting the songs of Rodgers and Hart,
Cole Porter, Johnny Mercer and other writers
from the pre-rock era.

“I had heard these
songs by other artists,” he says, speaking
about the choice of material. “Jackie taught
me how to construct a set in a night club
and I followed suit on the album by varying
the tempo not too many ballads. I love
ballads but they can bring the energy level
down.”

Most of Grillo’s
reference points came from female, not male,
jazz singers. “Dinah Washington, Ella
Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan,” he ticks off the
names. “Tony Bennett is the male singer who
is closest to evoking that lyrical
sensibility interpreting the songs on an
emotional and a musical level.”

In the quarter century
since This Funny World, Grillo
released eight other recordings including
collaborations with the Lynne Arriale Trio
and the Nick Contorno Orchestra and with
such esteemed local instrumentalists as Kirk
Tatnall and Barry Velleman. For his 25th
anniversary showcase at Transfer Pizzeria,
one of his consistent performance venues for
the past decade, Grillo will perform with
keyboardist Neal Charles, guitarist Bill
Martin and drummer Omar. He hopes Transfer’s
owner Russell Rossetto will sit in on
trombone along with other guest players.
Grillo promises “a complimentary champagne
toast, and everyone will receive a copy of
the album.”

Several people involved
in the original release of This Funny
World have gone on to success. Allen
was signed to Blue Note records and is now
on the music faculty at Doane College in
Nebraska. The Milwaukee artist responsible
for the cover’s funky drawings, Chrisanne
Robertson, has been exhibited in galleries
and has received commissions for her work.

“Bringing out the
lyrical content is what I like to do,”
Grillo says. “I’ve always loved the romantic
emotion of the Great American Songbook.”

Jerry Grillo’s 20-something
AnniversaryJazzman is still singing after many
years in the business

Jerry Grillo recently
announced that he will celebrate his 20th
anniversary as a jazz singer with a pair of
performances. When pressed slightly, he
readily admits that it’s been longer than 20
years, actually. “Someone threw it to me:
‘Haven’t you been in this business 20 years?
You should perform at some of your old
venues.’ Well, people are surprised at how
long I’ve been doing this.”

Grillo’s first CD, This
Funny World, was released in 1994, and if
memory serves, he was performing at the Jazz
Estate even earlier but why quibble over the
calendar? From the 1990s through now, Grillo
has recorded nine albums and until a few
years ago, maintained a vigorous performance
schedule around Milwaukee. “I did so much,
curriculum vitae wise, that anyone would
think that I would’ve left town,” he says.
“It seems that I should have had the goal to
go farther, and I did have that in mind at
first.”

His career was in
education and he pursued the calling of
music on weekends and weeknights. While
teaching at John Marshall High School,
Grillo acted in musical theater on the side,
and he continued teaching until 1999,
several years into his run as a jazz singer.
His musical imagination was always shaped by
the era of the Great American Songbook, an
epoch when pop melodies commonly provided
material for jazz interpreters. Grillo began
seriously focusing on jazz singing under the
tutelage of Jackie Allen, an instructor at
the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music who
later became a Blue Note recording artist.
Allen helped Grillo secure a Chicago
recording studio and session musicians for
This Funny World. “She was very generous,”
Grillo says. “She gave me one of the first
songs she ever wrote, ‘I Chase the Sun,’ to
record on the album.” It fit well alongside
such standards as “Honeysuckle Rose” and
“Speak Low.”

Album followed album,
and although Grillo has relaxed the pace, he
has kept himself busy. He was the subject of
a short documentary that was shown at the
Milwaukee Film Festival and other festivals,
and is booking agent, promoter and soundman
at Angelo’s, a bar featuring live jazz on
the city’s East Side. He remains optimistic
about the music’s future.

“There are a lot of
young people who are just discovering these
songs and what they are about,” he says.
“They are curious about this music. I know
there’s so much else out there these days,
but we can’t let go of these songs.” Jerry
Grillo will perform May 28 at the Uptowner,
1032 E. Center St., and July 31 at the Jazz
Estate, 2423 N. Murray Ave.

-- David Luhrssen
Shepherd-Express
05-28-2015

Local jazz singer Grillo
prepares for a change in tempo

It was the summer of 2012 when Jerry Grillo
met pianist Joe Kral at Angelo's Piano
Lounge. Kral -- trained by Willie Pickens
and a veteran of clubs in Milwaukee, Chicago
and New York -- was sitting in for the
evening's performances, but Grillo could he
was a special musician, one he'd want to
work with.

"It was clear to me
that he had very good training with a very
good teacher," Grillo recalled. "You can
hear it. The techniques. The approach to a
song. The sensitivity. As a trained jazz
musician myself, I can hear that, and I can
sense what the combination of the piano
player and myself is able to accomplish."

Grillo's sense appears
to have been correct, as the two have
continued to work together over the past
year. They still gig together at Angelo's on
Friday nights, as well as at other venues
and events scattered throughout the city.
The duo also recorded a few unreleased
ballads to go along as a tribute to Elsa's
On The Park wall mural featuring the sheet
music of "Stardust."

The experience of
working with Kral in the studio on those
tracks, combined with the pianist's adept
touch for classic ballads, inspired Grillo
to create "Music Box," the local jazz
legend's latest recording project. Grillo
will be celebrating the four-song ballad
collection at a CD release show Friday night
at the Jazz Gallery, 936 E. Center St.

The idea of releasing
an album of ballads may come as an
intriguing contrast to a music industry
currently emphasizing energetic singles and
poppy, catchy hooks. For Grillo and Kral,
however, this is the music they wanted to
do.

"We both like them so
much," Grillo said. "All songs are written
for a reason and with a message, but there
are certain ballads that are written which
have much more meaning to them than, say, an
uptempo jazz or swing tune. We picked songs
that have a lot to say, lyrically and
musically."

Among the four songs
included on the disc are "Always On My
Mind," "Some Other Time" and "Blame It On My
Youth." That last song, an ode to loves lost
at a young age -- performed by the likes of
Nat King Cole and Frank Sinatra -- is
Grillo's personal favorite of the four, but
they all have a timeless quality that speaks
to all audiences.

"The lyrics and what
they say to people about relationships and
feelings are all things involved with the
human experience," Grillo said. "They're
universal. The song is going to last forever
because every generation that hears that
song is going to identify with it. And
that's not so true with songs written
today."

Of course, that didn't
stop Grillo from trying. Completing the
four-song set is "Lonely," featuring lyrics
written by Grillo and music by Roe Fosco. A
friend of his wrote the melody after her
father passed away and let Grillo write his
own lyrics for the song. What he ended up
with was a love song about loneliness,
emptiness and relationships ending for any
variety of reasons.

"It's a break-up song
and all about loss, but it's not really
depressing," Grillo said. "None of these
ballads are depressing. For me, ballads can
be uplifting because they have messages that
can help ease the pain."

He recorded it
previously with a jazz trio with a more
Latin tempo, but he wanted to give the song
another, slower try with Kral. In fact,
that's what Grillo is attempting to do with
the entirety of "Music Box": slowing down
the songs in the hopes of making the meaning
come out more.

"We did these at a very
slow tempo so the lyrics could be totally
understood," Grill said. "Because of the way
(Kral) plays them and the way we interpret
our feelings through the songs, that's
basically why I called it 'Music Box,'"
Grillo said.

"To me, that's what it
sounds like. Well, a music box that lasts a
half hour. To me, it's a similar feeling of
sitting back, letting that music play,
listening to it and letting your feelings
go. People don't do enough of that today in
my opinion."

It's an interesting and
"meditative" direction for the local jazz
icon's latest recording, as well as possibly
his last. No worries, local jazz fans: While
touring and travelling the country have lost
their appeal to Grillo, he still loves to
perform and would even like to hop back into
musical theater (he's previously done
"Cabaret," "Fiddler on the Roof" and "The
Fantasticks"), possibly even to rejuvenate
his cabaret show "Jerry Sings Broadway."

As for recording,
though, his time is likely done. Probably.

"I think I've said what
I pretty much have to say musically," Grillo
said. "I've pretty much recorded the songs
that I love the most. Each CD has songs that
I've always wanted to sing. Sure, there are
other songs that I do sing that I've never
recorded that I love very much, but I'm not
going go out and record them. "Music Box"
will be the last CD I do, other than if I
write all of my own songs. If I write all of
my own songs, I'll do another one."

-- Matt Mueller
On Milwaukee
Nov. 20, 2013

Jerry Grillo's Traditional
Jazz Stylings

Jerry
Grillo has been at it long enough to call
himself a veteran even if he answered his
calling as a jazz singer relatively late in
life. Only after retiring from a career as a
schoolteacher in 1999 was Grillo able to
devote himself to his first love. Since then
he has released no fewer than nine CDs. He
has also watched CD sales shrink, the
ladders for getting a leg up in the industry
collapse and opportunities to perform
dwindle.

"People say, 'I got
your CD at the library and copied it!' How
am I supposed to answer that?" Grillo says
with a sigh. "For singers, it's not as good
as it was."

Grillo forges onward
anyway, lending his foggy voice to the
standards of pre-rock American songs in
settings that sometimes depart from the
norm. He's enjoyed a varied track record,
performing with a diverse range of
musicians, including The Danglers and the
Nick Contorno Orchestra. He's sung with only
a pianist for accompaniment and with a trio.
Usually his combo includes bassist Madeline
Dietrich, guitarist Kirk Tatnall and
percussionist Randy Maio, who loves slapping
the skins with his palms and playing with
wind chimes as well as drumsticks.

To find work in
restaurants and private functions, many jazz
singers have switched to pop tunes, "and not
in a jazz way," Grillo adds. He has always
sung a few of his favorites from the 1950s
("Venus") and has added a couple of country
songs ("For the Good Times," "Rambling
Rose") that open easily to jazz, but prefers
to draw from the classic jazz singer
repertoire. Songs popularized by Frank
Sinatra are a mainstay, along with
compositions by Antonio Carlos Jobim for a
Brazilian lilt, a funky "Summertime" and a
sizzling, edgy rendition of "Fever."

"I can't change
'Moonlight in Vermont' or 'The Nearness of
You' in good conscience," he says. "But we
do many songs in a nontraditional way,
changing the chords, the voicings and the
rhythm. Kirk will play guitar with pedals
and come close to a rock guitar solo never a
real rock solo, but close."

Grillo's voice
has gained assurance and nuance, as
attested by a close listen to his 2009
anthology CD, Some of the Best. He pops up
in unexpected venues, such as LuLu Cafe or
Paddy's Pub, and accepts the changing
times with a shrug. "I wonder sometimes if
I shouldn't have left town, but the
problem is I really love Milwaukee. Where
else would I have gotten an award? I'm
proud of my WAMI."

-- By David Luhrssen
Wednesday, March 28,2012

Grillo film looks at
historic Milwaukee jazz venues

"Vintage
Grillo...Milwaukee" is a new documentary
created by a team made up of local jazz
singer Jerry Grillo and filmmakers Tim
Chiapetta and his wife, Lisa. The film looks
at historic Milwaukee venues that
occasionally feature jazz bands, including
Transfer Pizzeria, 101 W. Mitchell St.

This lesson in local
history will include songs from Broadway and
the Movies. A premiere screening of the film
will be shown during the intermission of a
concert by Grillo at 6 p.m. Sunday at the
Wherehouse, 818 S. Water St. Weather
permitting, the event will begin with a
short cocktail hour on the patio.

A line of jazz
art-inspired T-shirts from Grillo's design
company will be sold at the event. There's
no admission price, but there is a two-drink
minimum (includes soda).

-- Jackie
Loohauis-Bennett
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
June, 2011

Grillo captures Historical
Mystery Band at Lulu gig

For years, Jerry Grillo
has been Milwaukee's jazz singer. He's been
a constant on the scene, forging his own
style out of a passion for singers like
Frank Sinatra and Bobby Darin, but always
letting the Grillo come through.

He's recorded numerous
CDs with different bands and in different
settings. When he takes the stage at Cafe
Lulu, 2265 S. Howell Ave., in Bay View on
Saturday, May 8 at 10:30 p.m. it will be
fronting a new group called Historical
Mystery Band.

"I've always have had a
band," says Grillo. "With jazz bands,
however, most singers and players use
whoever is available, because their skills
are such that they can play any chord charts
in almost every rhythm."

But with the Historical
Mystery Band, which includes keyboardist
Scott Currier, guitarist and bassist Kirk
Tatnall and percussionist Randy Maio, Grillo
wants to work with a band in a much more
close-knit fashion.

"I would like my songs
to be done in a way that is familiar to my
own chosen musicians, and I also prefer
musicians who write some of their own tunes,
so we can feature them. I have chosen this
band for that particular reason. I will also
add saxopone or trumpet depending upon the
gig."

Historical Mystery Band
is a band, says Grillo -- who also performs
with the 15-piece Nick Contorno Orchestra --
not just backing musicians for him. Currier
and Tatnall have been writing original
material that the band will perform
alongside a selection of standards.

"Instead of just
showcasing myself, I wanted the band to have
a name other than only mine. We are a band,
not just Jerry Grillo, the singer."

That band will be
caught on film at its second performance
(the first, on Thursday, April 29, is the
start of an every-other-week residency at
the Harbor Room, 117 E. Greenfield Ave.),
says Grillo, who says a relatively low-fi
video of a performance provided inspiration
to make a DVD. Tim Chiapetta of Milwaukee
Metro Design is filming the performance

"I was recorded on a
cell phone at a gig, and that video was sent
to me via Facebook," he recalls.

"It prompted the
thought that I would like to have a better
quality documentation of my bands and myself
as performer. (Chiapetta) offered to film
that, and I indicated that I wanted to be
filmed at venues which would be considered
historic because of the buildings they were
housed in, or because they were considered
historical because the venue was a Milwaukee
landmark venue for so many years.

"I didn't want a staged
video because I generally don't find them
interesting for a jazz band. The documentary
form was appealing to me because, if it is
done well, it highlights the venue and the
band at the same time. This is a concept
film which includes the band as well -- not
just a video. Film documentaries have always
intrigued me. Videos of a band just playing
their songs, don't really interest me at
all. That is only a promotional tool."

If the name of the band
seems like something of a mystery, itself,
Grillo says it has a meaning relevant to the
group and for the film project, too.

"The mystery part of
the title is because of the fact the venues
will be decided upon as we go along," he
says. "This is part of a journey, filmwise,
and will take quite a bit of effort and time
to produce. I also have always been
interested in historic venues, performed in
many of them, and have never been filmed
live professionally. "

Cafe Lulu, says Grillo,
fits his criteria perfectly and is therefore
perfect for the event.

"Cafe Lulu was selected
because the original restaurant was a George
Webb, and if that isn't historical, nothing
is," says Grillo. "Also, they have become an
intrinsic destination in Bay View, and were
the first to develop that corner. The
transformation of Kinnickinnic and Lincoln
has been very interesting to watch."

Grillo's most recent
solo CD, "Some of the Best," is available
for purchase at performances only.

--Bobby
Tanzilo
OnMilwaukee.com
April 24, 2010

Jazz on Camera: Jerry
Grillo’s Historical Journey

Jerry
Grillo was a little taken aback. When a fan
he had never met before, Lisa Chiappetta,
showed him the video she made on her cell
phone camera of one of his performances,
Grillo thought, “I don’t like the YouTube
quality.” But the encounter sparked a series
of conversations, a train of thought that
led to the Milwaukee jazz singer’s latest
project.

Starting this spring,
the Jerry Grillo Historical Mystery Band
will be on a tour of landmark local venues,
trailed by cameras. Lisa’s husband, Tim
Chiappetta of Milwaukee Metro Design, will
edit the footage into a documentary suitable
for the festival circuit.

“I thought it would be
fun to do something more involved and of
better quality than just something you throw
online,” Grillo says.

The singer and showman
is no stranger to working with film and
video artists. In the early ’90s, when his
career as an interpreter of classic songs
had just begun, Grillo did a short subject
with Milwaukee filmmaker Cathy Cook, who has
since gone on to national acclaim. The
intervening years, however, mostly have been
devoted to making music. Grillo has released
no less than eight CDs and recently posted
an original song on his website.

Music will be the most
significant aspect of the planned
documentary, but not the only one. “To me,
it’s a historical journey,” Grillo explains.
“I’m picking venues that don’t normally
feature jazz, located in buildings
associated with Milwaukee history in some
way.”

He chose the location
for this weekend’s gig at Café LuLu (2265 S.
Howell Ave.) because the building once
housed one of those favorite diners for
Milwaukee night owls, George Webb. On May
13, Grillo will take the show to the Harbor
Room (117 E. Greenfield Ave.).

The Historical Mystery
Band features top-flight local jazz
musicians, including Kirk Tatnall on guitar
and bass, Scott Currier on keyboards, Mike
Caldwell on saxophone and Randy Maio on
drums and all manner of percussion. Several
songs in the set list are instrumentals by
Tatnall and Currier, but the focus will be
on songs chosen and sung by Grillo.

“I don’t go beyond the
’60s—it’s hard to find songs that are good
for me from beyond the ’60s,” he says,
explaining a repertoire that runs roughly
from Gershwin through Lennon and McCartney.
Although in earlier years he was a purist,
Grillo has become a creative interpreter. “I
wanted to appeal to a different audience and
create something more exciting for the band
as well,” he says, explaining the reggae
rendition of “Witchcraft” and an “almost
hip-hop” take on “Summertime.”

The Jerry Grillo
Historical Mystery Band performs at 10:30
p.m. Saturday, May 8, at Café LuLu.

-- David Luhrssen
ExpressMilwaukee.com
May 6, 2010

Jerry Grillo’s
Sentimental JourneySeveral
years ago Jerry Grillo was one of the most
prolific jazz performers in town,
recording no less than seven CDs from 1994
through the middle of the present decade
and singing consistently in local clubs.
He didn't fall silent as much as he became
quieter, playing modest duets at Paddy's
Pub and weddings and corporate parties
with the Nick Contorno big band.

"I was content for a while not scratching
around for gigs," Grillo says, explaining
that his father died recently and his
mother has been unwell. "It puts one in a
contemplative mood," he continues. "For a
while I didn't feel like doing anything."

Grillo returned recently with a new CD
called Some Of The Best, a
digitally remastered career retrospective
culled from many of his previous CDs, plus
a live bonus track and an alternate take
of Frankie Avalon's hit "Venus." It's the
culmination of his contemplative phase.

"I started thinking of all the musicians
I've worked with over all these years," he
says, explaining that at one time he toyed
with ideas of either a bluesy album or a
disc of songs newer than his usual
repertoire of Gershwin, Ellington and
songs from the golden years of popular
songcraft. "The project became more of a
sentimental thing, more of a tribute
situation. And it was easier to do."

From the get-go Grillo attracted many of
Milwaukee's best jazz musicians. On
electric guitar: Jack Grassel, Kirk
Tatnall and Steve Peplin. Barry Velleman
and Scott Currier have been heard on
piano. Randy Maio, Charles McFarlan, Jeff
Hamann and Tom McGirr are among the rhythm
players. Milwaukee expatriate Julie Wood
lent her saxophone on occasion. All are
represented on Some Of The Best,
a set that includes edgy experimentation
and straight ballads, '30s swing and '50s
pop.

Although Grillo had dabbled over the
years in cover bands and musical theater,
he was a late bloomer as a jazz singer,
tossing his hat into the bullring only
after retiring from Milwaukee Public
Schools. Some encouraged him to follow his
star in cities where lights are brighter,
but Grillo refused to leave.

"I love my house. I love the city. I'm
thrilled with what's happening here-other
than the winters," he explains. "There
were so many negatives about moving. But
the big reason was all the musicians I
could work with here. I feel these people
could play anywhere in the world with
anybody. They are exceptional."

He pauses for a moment and adds,
referring to Some Of The Best,
"Maybe this is the final product. I don't
know if I'll actually make another CD" in
a world of rampant piracy and an imploding
music industry. "But I'm adding songs to
my repertoire and I have the people who
can play them."

--Dave Luhrssen
Shepherd Express
April 2009

Standards
With a Twist
Cupping his hands around his microphone,
his eyes half closed, Jerry Grillo sways
to the rhythm of an inner reverie as he
puts his singing on pause to allow his
guitarist to take a solo. Live, Grillo is
the consummate lounge singer, wrapping his
voice around the meaning of every word of
every standard he sings.

But when speaking about his fifth
full-length CD, Fever...And Other
Symptoms, Grillo declares, "This is
not lounge at all to me." The 12 tracks
are all standards from the classic era of
American pop music, the '30s through the
'50s, unless they are more recent tunes in
the style of a Brazilian samba, but most
of them aren't performed in a standard
way. "It's alternative. It's in your face.
It's funky," he explains.

When Grillo released his first CD
in 1994 he colored strictly within the
lines of his repertoire. A few years
later, he edged the material into less
explored areas. And then he pulled back a
little, finding a comfortable balance
between familiarity and strangeness. "It's
taken me years to find out how far I can
go without going too far," he says.

On "Fever," Grillo incorporates
lyrics from Sonny and Cher, the Doors and
Gershwin to the song's elastic rhythm
while guitarist Kirk Tatnall tears off a
Hendrixy solo. Pianist Scott Currier
threads a bluesy pattern through "Come
Rain or Come Shine." The inherent
funkiness of "Softly As In a Morning
Sunrise" surfaces with help from guitarist
Steve Peplin and drummer Randy Maio.
Grillo also relaxes into a more intimate
mood on three songs accompanied only by
pianist Barry Velleman.

"I'm putting my own stamp on
these tunes," Grillo says. "I don't think
artists can make it today without stamping
their own heart and soul on the pieces.
This is definitely who I am."

Shepherd Express
Dave Luhrssen
June 21, 2001

Jerry Grillo has created a jazz vocal
showcase for himself with such classics as
"Softly As In A Morning Sunrise,"
Cole Porter's "Get Out Of Town,"
Jobim's "How Insensitive,"
Carmichael's "Georgia On My Mind"
Davenport's "Fever," George
Gershwin's "Summertime," Johnny
Mercer/Barry Manilow's "When October
Goes," Holiday's "God Bless This
Child" among others in the
outstanding CD release titled FEVER......AND OTHER
SYMPTOMS. 12 selections.

Backed by various artists,
including guest pianist Barry Velleman,
this is an entertaining collection of jazz
classics. It is a pleasure listening to
the solo work by these artists.

The rendition of the
Mercer/Manilow song, "When October Goes,"
is a highly emotional and sensitive
interpretation, and it reveals the
complexity and range of Jerry Grillo's
voice. The piano accompanying Grillo is
played by Barry Velleman.

A nice listening experience, this
CD will find a home among jazz vocalist
fans everywhere. Jerry Grillo at his
best!

John Barrett Jr.
Jazz Review
July, 2001

Lonely
A throwback to the days of cabaret,
Grillo has earned comparisons to Frank
Sinatra and Bobby Darin, and it's easy
to hear why. He has a rich,
resonant voice and a good dose of
swagger that commands listeners to pay
attention. On this single, he
offers two versions of the title
ballad. The second version is
slightly bluesier, and clocking in two
minutes longer, it allows for some
nice solo work by members of the Barry
Velleman Quartet.

Donna Kimura
jazzreview.com
am Jazz, Minneapple Records 2004

A close listen of Milwaukee jazz
vocalist Jerry Grillo's new CD What's
It All About? is akin to a perfect
date in Manhattan. It's a crisp night, and
you're holding hands. Seeking warmth and a
big glass of red wine, you duck into a
small, smoky club. A few couples whisper to
each other, and there are a few single
people up at the bar. The man at the piano
begins, and then a voice begins to sing. But
New York has plenty of that.

Thankfully, Milwaukee is
the city that gets Jerry Grillo.

In his sixth and final CD
for the amJazz label, which he created
in 1994, Grillo pairs up with pianist
Barry Velleman to sing classics of
renewal and devotion. Velleman, Grillo's
frequent collaborator and member of the
Jerry Grillo Quartet, brings his own
arrangements to the party. It's
twinkling lights and ice cubes,
carefully scored "I have always wanted
to do a jazz piano/vocal recording with
a great accompanist since I heard the
Tony Bennet/Bill Evans albums many years
ago," Grillo explains.

He calls it "jazz with a
dash of cabaret", which is a
particularly apt description on his
version of Cole Porter's "Night and
Day." Grillo calls "Cry Me a River" the
"perfect revenge song," and here he
sings it with an almost drunken apathy,
as if he is shrugging and flipping
someone off, a smile on his face the
whole time. And although it is a little
early for holiday songs, the album's
last track, "Have Yourself a Merry
Little Christmas," is enough to get you
in a eggnog sort of-mood. Extra whiskey,
please.

-- The Press
Jessica Zierten
September, 2002

One thing is clear upon hearing
Jerry Grillo's new CD, What's It All
About: He admires good piano players.
On Grillo's sixth full-length disc, the
Milwaukee singer is accompanied exclusively
by pianist Barry Velleman, who brings a high
level of musicality to the proceedings.

What's less apparent —
although it makes perfect sense if
you're listening for it
— is that the 13 standards
comprising the CD (but not the bonus
track of "Have Yourself a Merry Little
Christmas") are sequenced to tell a
story. Grillo imagines What's It All
About as a cabaret show. All he
needs is to show up in a club with the
songs, plug in the mike, wheel in the
piano and add a little between song
banter. The outline for the act is
already digitally inscribed on his new
disc.

"In my mind I already had
the story. Then I picked the songs,"
Grillo says, explaining the choice of
jazz era favorites such as Cole Porter's
"What Is This Thing Called Love" and
Rodgers and Hammerstein's “We Kiss in
the Shadows," along with Burt
Bacharach's "Alfie," John Lennon's
"Love" and the Carpenters' "For All We
Know. "It's about two people getting
together, how love develops, how it
comes to a point of stabilization and
into a breakup. You don't know if the
couple get back together or not, but
they come to terms with their own
lives," he says.

In many respects, Grillo —who through his eight year
recording career has fronted a big band,
dabbled in cutting-edge jazz and toyed
with ways of retooling the old music for
a new generation
— comes full circle with What's
It All About. It's a collection
of lovingly performed pop songs from the
pre-rock era, plus a few newer,
compatible tunes, arranged in a style
similar to the classic jazz-vocal combos
of the '50s. His next goal is to take
his voice out of the bars and into the
concert halls. "I'm looking for a quiet
room where people pay to hear me. I
think I've paid my dues. I think I'm
ready for it," Grillo says.

--Dave Luhrssen
Shepherd Express
October, 2002

He s become Milwaukee's Ol' Blue
Eyes.

Approaching 10 years of
singing in town, local lounge crooner Jerry
Grillo, a fixture at
Caroline's Jazz Club and Hi Hat Lounge,
prepares to celebrate the release of his
sixth album "What's It All About" with a
show 3 p.m. Sunday at Wisconsin
Conservatory of Music's Bader Recital
Hall, 1584 N. Prospect Ave.

The event is free and open
to the general public. It will have
Grillo performing as part of a duet with
pianist Barry Velleman.

Velleman, a Berkelee
College of Music alumnus, performed with
many well-known jazz singers and
musicians on the east Coast in the late
'60s and early '70s before moving to
Milwaukee to teach at Marquette
University.

Grillo's five previous
albums had him mainly performing in
expanded combo or big-band situations.
This time, the entire album sticks to a
cabaret format with Velleman providing
lone accompaniment to Grillo's voice.
Sly content musical moments include
Grillo's refiguring of Sinatra's
Versions of "Learning the Blues" and
"Night and Day" breezier, more upbeat
strokes come on the Latin-tempo number
"Who Are You Now?" from the musical
"Funny Girl." Unusual moments include
Grillo’s interpretation of John Lennon's
"Love," a voice-and-piano-only ballad
itself, from the late Beatles' 1970 solo
debut album, "Plastic Ono Band.”

“There's pretty much
variety on this album, compared to the
earlier ones, but I'm still always
looking to expand my repertoire," Grillo
says. “To me, those later pop and rock
songs on this album are the stuff of
standards; it's only recently that a
song written after the '60s could be
considered a jazz standard.”

--Nick Carter
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
September, 2002

Jerry
Grillo, Live At The Uptowner
Grillo is the star of the extended-play live
recording. He sings seven songs backed only by
guitarist Grassel and bassist McGirr. The same
dynamics Grillo brought to big band singing are
present on this small combo outing. On this club
date, he has freedom to rearrange the melody line
and deliver a more expressive statement..... the
date takes on a swinging demeanor. Grillo is an
entertainer who can get a crowd into the performance
through his personality and delivery.

Cadence Jazz Magazine
March, 2000

"Grillo croons from gig to gig with
a '40s, early '50s flare." Highlights of
Grillo's career plus comments on his latest CD
release and his rural beginnings in Hibbing,
Minnesota, going to high school with Bob Dylan.

"He's
routinely booked into venues as varied as The
Uptowner, a popular boho dive in Riverwest that
brings in live music, and Hi-Hat Lounge, the
trendiest of nightspots along the rapidly
gentrifying Brady Street strip."

"In
the past five years he's worked his way back and
forth across the repertoire of the 30's and
40's, crooning the old songs, jazzing them up,
deconstructing them and putting them back
together again. The Contorno disc is already
Grillo's fifth CD, and he shows no signs of
stopping now."

Shepherd Express
Metro
"Swinging the Old Songs" by Dave Luhrssen
August 26, 1999

Goody
for You, his new release of jazz standards,
and his captivating club appearances testify to
the remarkable improvement Grillo has made as a
vocalist and entertainer since 1994, when he
released his first CD, "This Funny World," and
began performing live.

"The
secret is I finally found my own style," Grillo
said. "It is very natural. I'm more spontaneous,
more upbeat, not mellow or torchy, and my
presentation is very audience-oriented.

"At
the beginning, I thought I had to sound like
someone else, but now I have my own way of
singing these wonderful songs. I keep working on
technique, just getting out there and
improvising."

Indeed,
Grillo is carving out his own identity with
skilled improvisations, changing the phrasing
and emphasizing different words as he expresses
the lyrics. There are no formal arrangements.

"Every
song is what I feel at that moment," Grillo
said. "It is a wonderful experience to go out as
a jazz performer because every evening is new,
and it is a thrill to me to sing the song a
different way each time."

As
a performer, Grillo exudes the inner excitement
he feels. With confidence and cabaret charm, he
finds the right groove, taking each song in the
direction he wants it to go. Often, he'll sing a
slow ballad, such as "What a Difference a Day
Made," and put a sunny spin on it.

"People
go out to have a good time, and they want to
swing. So I might do 'My Funny Valentine' with
high energy and a blues sound, like Etta James
would do it."

In
1997, Grillo retired after 30 years as a teacher
with Milwaukee Public Schools, and now devotes
full time to his singing. He credits his
successful musical transformation to vocal
lessons he took from Chicago songstress Jackie
Allen and to frequent collaborations with
guitarist Jack Grassel and pianist Barry
Velleman.

"They
really challenge me because we are constantly
improvising and playing off each other," Grillo
said. "Each night is a jam session."

Grassel
and Grillo perform together as often as twice a
week, and Grassel has encouraged Grillo to bring
a high energy '90s approach to timeless tunes
from the '30s, '40s and '50s.

"Jerry
has an unusually high level of musicianship,"
Grassel said. "I can stop playing altogether and
then come back in a few minutes later, and Jerry
is still on the same pitch. Our music is greater
than the sum of its parts.

"He
has gone from being an average Milwaukee
vocalist to being a world-class vocalist.

"If
you look at what Jerry has accomplished in the
last three years, just think where he'll be in the
next three years."

June
Lehman
Special to the Journal Sentinel

Singer Jerry Grillo takes a more cautious
approach with a dozen standards on "Mister
Grillo," his second amJAZZ CD. Grillo has a mellow
rather than adventurous approach to
interpretation. He makes the most of "Take the A
Train," "All or Nothing at All," "Angel Eyes", and
"Sweet Georgia Brown." His accompanists, including
pianist Barry Velleman, guitarist Jack Grassel and
saxophonist Julie Wood, are uniformly terrific.
- Keith Spore, publisher of the Milwaukee
Journal Sentinel, a longtime jazz listener and a
former music critic for the Milwaukee Sentinel.

Keith
Spore
Milwaukee Journal
ON JAZZ - January 12, 1997

...In 1993, Grillo released his first CD,
This Funny World. On it, he gave his former jazz
teacher a thank-you by recording one of [Jackie]
Allen's songs, "I'll Chase The Sun." The new
Mister Grillo builds on the success of the first
CD and includes an all-star Milwaukee lineup of
pianist Barry Velleman, guitarist Jack Grassel,
bassist Jeff Hamann, drummer Charles McFarlan and
on one cut, saxophonist Julie Wood...

Frank SavoySchool Of Cool - October 20, 1995

...the
re-embodiment of '50s lounge cool for an era
that has begun to rediscover the music he loved
while growing up. Immaculate in a dark suit,
dark shirt, and bolo tie, singer Jerry Grillo
puts one foot on the piano bench on Cafe
Phyllis' tiny stage, leans back against the
handsome art noveau piano and, holding the tiny
microphone between the cups of his hands, taps
his fingers to the beat of "The Nearness Of
You." Guitarist Jack Grassel states the melody
and rhythm....It's music full of moonlight,
starry skies, impossible dreams and the
all-too-real emotional contradictions of adult
life, that towering feeling of falling in love
and the bitter aftertaste of its dissipation.
It's an unlikely choice of music for someone who
grew up in the bleak mining town of Hibbing,
Minnesota, a schoolmate of Bob Dylan. Country
didn't push Grillo's buttons, nor did rock 'n
roll. Later on, when he went away to college in
the '60s, Grillo listened to Tony Bennett while
his roommates [buddies] grooved on the
Beatles...